(Radio Iowa) – State Climatologist Justin Glisan says Iowa has been in a severe weather drought for the past three years. So far this year, there have been three dozen confirmed tornadoes in the state.
Over the past four decades, Iowa has been averaging 48 tornadoes a year. June has generally been the peak month for tornado activity in Iowa, but it appears there’s been just one tornado reported in the state this month. There were multiple tornadoes on March 31st, though. The National Weather Service office in the Quad Cities confirmed at least 30 tornadoes in eastern Iowa and western Illinois on that date.
Keota-tornado-Josh-Franzen-photo-via-NWS-
Warm, humid air near the ground and cold, dry air above are the ingredients that spawn a tornado out of a thunderstorm.
But Glisan says the latest research indicates relative humidity will be trending upward in the years ahead. Glisan made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.
Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. East wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. East northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Sunny, with a high near 88.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 90. Our Low was 65. 24-hour rainfall at KJAN (7-a.m. Thursday thru 7-a.m. today) was .75″. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 90, and the Low was 70. The Record High was 101 in 1933. The Record Low was 43 in 1940. Sunrise today is 5:49. Sunset at 8:58.
Other reports from around southwest Iowa:
Corning, .83″.
Cumberland, 2.5 inches
Griswold, 3 inches
Harlan, .16″
Lewis, 1.5 inches
North of Massena, 2.4inches
Treynor, .55″
Wiota, 1-inch of rain.
Today: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. North northeast wind 8 to 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. Northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tomorrow: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. Northeast wind around 8 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tom. Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then a slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.
Today: Air Quality Alert in effect. A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms this morning (mainly before 8am). Mostly Sunny & breezy. High near 90. South winds at 10-20 mph w/gusts to near 25.
Tonight: Partly cloudy w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low 67.
Thursday: Partly sunny w/a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10am. High near 90. NE @ 5-10.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 87.
Saturday: A 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high near 82.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 86. Our Low was 55. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 85, and the Low was 58. The Record High was 103 in 1936. The Record Low was 50 in 1896 & 2006. Sunrise today is 5:48. Sunset at 8:58.
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Widespread haze before 3pm, then widespread haze after 4pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming south southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4am. Widespread haze before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. South southeast wind 9 to 13 mph becoming east after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tomorrow: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Sunny, with a high near 91. Southeast wind 8 to 15 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tom.Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly clear, with a low around 66. North northwest wind 7 to 9 mph becoming northeast in the evening. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84.
Monday’s High in Atlantic was 80. Our Low this morning was 52. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 83, and the Low was 50. The Record High was 103 in 1934. The Record Low was 43 in 1938, 1958, & 1968. Sunrise today is 5:48. Sunset at 8:58.
(Radio Iowa) – Staff at the National Weather Service office at the Davenport Airport had to leave their posts and seek shelter as a weekend tornado nearly hit their building. Meteorologist Rich Kinney says an E-F-zero twister with winds around 75 miles an hour touched down near the Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott around 10:30 on Saturday night. While it was a weak tornado, Kinney says it could’ve been a disaster had it struck a few hours earlier in the evening.
“This tornado also tracked over the Davenport Airport where we had a lot of vendors set up for the Quad City Air Show,” Kinney says. “So there was some pretty good damage to canopies, tents, equipment out there. Some of that was also due, of course, to straight line winds.” The tornado followed Interstate 80 eastward and hopped over the town of Mount Joy, carving a ten-mile path over about 15 minutes. Kinney says all of the practice and training paid off as the National Weather Service crew stayed at their computers as long as they could before evacuating as the twister approached.
“We had our staff take shelter in our storm shelter for a few minutes while the La Crosse (Wisconsin) Weather Service office backed us up,” Kinney says. “They actually issued a warning for us, and then when the threat passed, we resumed normal operations.” There’s damage to some houses, buildings, trees and power lines in that area of Scott County but no one was reported hurt. The same storm system brought strong winds to parts of northeast Iowa and dropped tennis ball-sized hail near Ottumwa.
Photo by Lance Shaeffer of Davenport, NWS spotter
“These tornadoes can develop very quickly, so it’s hard to get a lot of lead time, but our meteorologists were on top of it,” Kinney says. “We issued the warning quickly and were able to provide some heads-up time as this actually moved into a little bit more populated areas north of Davenport.” On the plus side, he says the storms brought some areas of the drought-plagued state up to two inches of rainfall.
Today: Sunny, with a high near 83. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. North wind 6 to 11 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southeast wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Breezy. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly clear, with a low around 66.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 78. Our Low this morning, 59. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 79, and the Low was 47. The Record High was 103 in 1934 & 1936, and the Record Low was 43, in 1902. Sunrise today is 5:47. Sunset at 8:58.
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